Overwatch Is Getting A Cross-Play Beta Sometime Soon

With Overwatch being present on almost every platform, this announcement was nearly inevitable. Cross-play is finally coming to Blizzard's massively popular multiplayer title, although not completely. The feature will first be introduced to Overwatch as a beta.

According to a press release from Blizzard, players will only be able to participate in Overwatch cross-play after creating a Battle.net account and linking it to their various console accounts. Naturally, this doesn't apply to PC players who have been playing the game through the Battle.net launcher since it was released in 2016. The addition of cross-play was likely the big feature Overwatch game director Aaron Keller teased recently.

As an added bonus, anyone that links their Nintendo, PlayStation, or Xbox accounts to Battle.net by the end of the year will also receive a golden loot box.

So far, it's not clear when the cross-play beta for Overwatch will launch or when the feature will fully release. The press release from blizzard vaguely states that, "The Overwatch Cross-Play Beta launches soon on PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox." For the time being, Overwatch players will just have to be happy knowing that the long-awaited feature is finally on the way. That being said, it's likely that we'll see cross-play in Overwatch before the end of the year.

While cross-play for Overwatch is in the works, that doesn't mean we'll be seeing cross-progression any time soon. In a recent Overwatch 2 Reddit AMA, Blizzard technical director John Lafleur said that cross-play would take priority over cross-progression. "However, given the additional complexities of cross-progression," Lafleur said, "it would probably make most sense to tackle cross-play, first and then explore progression as a potential add-on, if we go this route."